The present invention relates to apparatus for straightening suspension bars removed from cathode plates in electrolytic refining plants.
In the electrolytic refining of metals, e.g. copper, the starting sheets are fixed to suspension bars. Supported by the suspension bars, the starting sheets are transferred into the electrolytic tanks, and the starting sheets are allowed to grow into cathode plates. The completed cathode plates are lifted by the suspension bars and transferred to the cathode-plate bundling machine. During the bundling of the cathode plates, the suspension bars are removed from the cathode plates, and the removed suspension bars are transferred to an intermediate storage, and then re-used in starting sheets.
In order to decrease the large amount of capital tied up in suspension bars made of copper, the suspension bars are made as lightweight as possible. However, this results in a disadvantage, namely, that the strength of the lightweight suspension bars against incidental blows or impacts during lifting and other work stages is not always sufficient. Therefore, in practice nearly all suspension bars are bent more or less in either the vertical or the lateral direction.
Suspension bars which have been bent too much cause difficulties during all stages of handling. Since the speed of currently used automatic mechanicms is only a few seconds per bar and sheet, even the shortest stoppage results in a considerable loss in capacity. Likewise, the risk of machine breakage is always evident in the case of a disturbance.
Attempts have been made to find a suitable method for straightening the suspension bars. Suspension bars have been straightened by, for example, taking aside some of the suspension bars which are in circulation and by straightening them by using a separate press or by striking or by some other method. This, however, requires individual checking of the suspension bars and results in an entire separate work stage, in which the amount of manual work is high. Furthermore, such procedure keeps some of the suspension bars out of the suspension-bar cycle.
The object of the invention is to provide an improvement to the prior known practices. A more specific objective of the invention is to provide a means by which the suspension bars removed from cathode plates can be straightened in such a manner that a batch of suspension bars need not be taken out of the cycle of the suspension bars. A further object of the invention is to provide apparatus in which the suspension bars can be straightened in such a manner that the straightening of the suspension bars does not constitute an entire separate work stage in which the amount of manual work is high. A further object of the invention is to provide means for a method in which the straightening of the suspension bars is linked in a natural manner to the bundling of the suspension bars. The other objects of the invention and the advantages thereby gained are disclosed in the specification of the invention.